The Republic of Heaven

Here's a littel fan fic a friend and I wrote for a bit of a laugh. It's not brilliant, but then again it was never meant to be. Anyway, it's sort of a battle between HDM and a world created by myself (although it has a few influcences from other stories).

As it was created primarily for people who know about the world I made, here are a few people you need to know about.

The "Shadow Corps" are a faction of posthumans who upgrade themselves by putting their brains in cybernetic bodies for increased strenght and intelligence. The Peoples' Federation of Stars, mentioned in passing reference, is just one of their political enemies in their world. "Universe 1-Alpha-Prime" is their name for their universe- every other universe is numbered according to the extent to which it differs from 1AP.

Here's the first installment- it's sort of an introduction.

Earth, Universe: Unknown. Date (According to Universe 1-Alpha-Prime): 2605. Local Date: Unknown.
The sun never got far over horizon in this part of the globe. It hung only a little way above the ground, its red rays reflecting off the ice. It was an amazing sight. Smith, the founder and leader of the Shadow Corps, gazed across it for a few seconds, before drawing his attention to the metallic construction protruding from the ice field. He ordered the ship to descend.

The cutter came to a halt just outside, hanging in the air half a metre above the ground. A ramp extended out from the ship’s door, releasing Smith out onto the ice. He looked around for a few seconds, his cybernetic eyes taking in the scene around him and scanning it for threats. It seemed safe; the only objects visible were a few conifer trees and pieces of twisted metal. The only other constructions of note were the buildings erected by his team overnight.

They had arrived on this Earth three days previously after fleeing an attack from the People’s Federation of Stars, back in their own universe. Intervention from a Federal plasm missile had caused them to take a detour into an unmapped system. Chased by Federal cruisers, they had stumbled into a mysterious portal orbiting one of the planets. After coming out on the other side, they had crashed on this planet. They still had no idea what it was called, or who lived on it. Meanwhile, the team’s scientists had reported strange readings on their instruments that could not be explained under any known physical theory. After several days of frustration, scouts had reported contact with a group of sailors off the North Coast of Britain. It was their information that had led Smith to the northern regions.

Smith noticed one of the doors on the nearest building sliding open. The black-suited figure of Commander Burns emerged, carrying an energy rifle.
“Burns”. Called Smith.
“Sir.”
“I just got back from our observations further north. My ship tells me that something strange happened there- something’s wrong with the planet’s magnetic field. And space time itself doesn’t look right either. It’s been twisted and bent, much more than this planet’s gravity would have done. It’s like somebody blasted a hole in it, then sealed it back up- like there was a black hole up there. But that doesn’t add up either. My men still haven’t worked it out.”
“We can’t make much more sense of anything down here. The information those sailors gave us was right- there was once a facility here. I read the data, but it doesn’t make any sense- it’s all demons and spirits and stuff. It’s like these people were stuck in the middle ages.”
“This is a strange, strange world.”
“It gets better. My men were running tachyon beam scans of the area. The particle density of this place is twice what it should be, as if there’s a whole new type of matter hanging in the air.”
“Could it be neutrinos? They would fit- sort of.”
“Nope. I tried that. There are neutrinos here- they show up on the scan. I think this might explain it.” His helmet lit up, projecting a miniaturised version of the ruin into the air. Everything was enveloped in rolling red clouds. “These are the neutrinos in the area- just like we were expecting”. The red clouds disappeared, to be replaced by blue ones, which grouped near the buildings. “This is the other matter. Notice anything?”
“It’s clustering around the buildings. Why?’
“We don’t know. Perhaps some of our technology produces a field that they find attractive.”
“But that would show up on our energy scans.”
“Yes- unless it only exists in this world.”

Something flashed in the back of Smith’s mind. He knew what it was- one of the computers in his brain must have detected something. From the look of Burns’ face, the same must have happened to him. Almost involuntarily, both of them swung around, pointing their guns at the threat.
“What the hell?”
“Is that what I think it is, sir?”
“Yep. Unless my eyes have just totally screwed up on me, that’s a polar bear- in armour.”
“How is that possible?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that it must be some sort of trained attack animal. There might be others about. Be ready- there could be people about.”
“I am not a slave of a human!” Roared the bear.
“Holy ~*pineapples*~!” Yelled Burns.
“Drop your weapon, human boy.”
“And why would I do that?” asked Smith.
“Because otherwise, I’ll tear you to pieces.”
“Ok. Here’s my terms. We come in peace. I don't particularly want to fight you. If you stand down, you can walk away. If you don’t, I’ll blow your f*cking brains out.”
The bear suddenly charged forward, almost pummelling into Burns. Smith ran at him and unleashed a punch into his chest, the cybernetic actuators in his arm forcing the bear onto his hind legs. Behind them, more soldiers spilled out from the buildings. Smith’s eyes registered a chink in the bear’s armour. He picked up his energy rifle, flipped the setting to heavy stun, and emptied several rounds into the bear’s skin.

To be continued.

You can always submit your fan fiction to the site too http://www.bridgetothestars.net/index.php?d=fanfic

Or, y'know, there's fanfiction.net. There are over 600 HDM fics there, I believe.

Someone's a Simpsons fan..... Burns and Smithers?

But yes, the point remains - look around for similar threads. There is a search function, as has been mentioned multiple times. Use it.

I've now merged this duplicate thread into the existing one.

Someone's a Simpsons fan..... Burns and Smithers

Would you believe it, I have never seen a simpsons episode in my life? Unlucky coincidence- Smith is the name of someone I know. Burns comes form a rather obscure computer game. I knew of the Burns reference in the Simpsons. The Smith one got past me.

There are in fact 9 commanders. More will show up later.

By the way, Aust, are you still goig to continue the story you started? I'd really like to see what happens next.

EDIT: Here's part 2 of mine. The first part is here, so I might as well continue it.

Iorek’s first reaction was to leap to his feet and lash against the cage’s grey metallic walls. As he did so, a blinding flash emerged from behind the bars, sending searing jolt of pain throughout his body. His limbs simply ceased to work. He crashed to the ground, rolling over in the dust, coughing and wheezing.
“Needless to say, if you try that again, the same thing will happen.”
Iorek gave a low growl. “Where’s my armour?”
“I removed it while you were unconscious. If you co-operate, it will be returned to you.”

He looked through the bars at the human standing before him. His body was almost entirely encased in ivory black armour, which clamped around him like an extension of his original body. A helmet covered obscured most of his head, leaving only his face visible. He was flanked by two soldiers, their faces entirely covered by reflective visors, making them look more cahine than human. Both of them appeared to be carrying larger versions of the weapon used on him before. One of them was pointing his weapon in Iorek’s direction. The wall behind them was dotted with glowing images that resembled the buildings Iorek had seen.
“Who are you?” he asked eventually.
“I am Commander Smith of the Shadow Corps. As you may have guessed, I’m not from this world. Who are you?”
“Iorek Byrnison, lord of the Panserbjørn.”
“Who are the Panserbjørn?”
“The armoured bears.”
“I see. I take it there are more of you?”
“A lot more.”
“Are any of you aware of the presence of worlds other than this one?”
“Very few. But I am one of them.”
“Are you capable of travelling between the worlds?”
“No. But someone is.”
“Where would I be able to find them?”

Starship Whipsering Death, transit to London.

Smith flicked through the readouts his ship had recorded. Most of it fitted with what Burns had told him. This world, wherever it was, was exceptionally strange. Further scans had shown that Burns’ mysterious particles covered most of this planet, but it seemed to cluster around what appeared to be settled areas. But so far, they had not detected any fields, forces or attraction mechanisms that could affect these particles. It was as if they were moving towards civilisation under their own power. But that made no sense. Smith frowned at the readout. He hoped that the bear’s information was correct.

Had the people on the ground been able to see the Whispering Death, they would have seen its elongated carbon black body gliding through the air like a great black bird. From its fuselage sprouted two smooth triangular wings which trailed all the way to the very back of the ship. Two fins dropped down from the back, pointing towards the ground. Just above them lay two engine pods, exuding a constant stream of fusion thrust. None of this, however, was visible under the stealth field Smith had erected around the ship. Even the thrusters’ emissions were drawn back into the hull and destroyed by the ship’s ever-busy nanotechnology, rendering the ship invisible to all but the most advanced scanner systems. Smith need not have bothered; there seemed to be no air traffic in this world at all, save the occasional zeppelin. There was certainly nothing capable of catching a cutter, let alone fighting it. He had not even detected any radar signatures. What he had found, however, were increasingly puzzling anomalies in space-time across the planet. It was like someone had torn and stabbed at the very fabric of reality, then tried to seal it up again. What was even more puzzling was their shape- any warps in space-time were supposed to be curved, but these were straight lines. Space time had not been penetrated, it had been cut.

The bear had been able to explain these anomalies to some extent. After Smith had managed to convince him that he meant no harm, Iorek-that was what the bear called himself- had divulged a rather interesting story. It concerned what appeared to be an interdimensional war between heaven and various branches of mankind. Central to all this had been a girl by the name of “Lyra Silvertongue”, who allegedly possessed devices that could answer any question and enter any universe. It all sounded very dubious- but then again, so did talking bears. Smith had raised the matter with Burns before he set off.
“Do you believe what he said, Burns?” He had asked.
“I don’t see much reason to doubt him. What he said was believable, when you take into account the nature of this universe.”
“But an interdimensional war? One with whole scale combat between universes? Wouldn’t we have detected something?”
“Not necessarily. I have a strange feeling that this universe may have formed under the laws described in the Kitz Fischer hypothesis.”
“Go on.”
“You know the theory of parallel universes? How for everything that can happen in one way, the universe splits up?”
“Yes.”
“Fischer described a situation in which the change was so profound it led to a change in physical laws. The result would be a totally new set of universes, totally independent of the original series. Sort of like a multiverse within a multiverse.”
“Hmm. That would explain why we can’t understand any of the physics of this world. Do you think it’s likely?”
“The theory seemed correct. It’s just nobody had ever observed it.”
“I think that might have changed.”

The cutter moved in towards the stone city below them. Golden buildings extended as far as the eye could see. Crowds of people walked around in the streets, oblivious to the invisible ship hanging in the air above them, and the fact that Smith could probably have used it to wipe them out, had he wanted to. Instead, he turned his attention to the aging spire of Jordan College. It pierced the sky, tapering towards a golden cross at the top. Below it stood a series of stone buildings, decked with gold, Green lawns rolled beneath them. Here and there stood a golden statue. Scholars walked about, heading towards their various buildings. Yes, this was the place.

Jordan College

Stealth Armour was not as effective at concealing its wearer as its ship-based counterparts. As it was not capable of carrying the extensive electromagnetic/tachyonic obscuration fields featured in stealth ships like Whispering Death, it made use of metamaterials- materials with a negative refractive index, which meant they reflected light on the same side of its normal, rather than the opposite, as was the case with most materials. The result was that light was bent around the user, rather than through them. It was not perfect- a careful observer would be able to see slight fluctuations in the air when its user moved. Still, it was better than nothing. Smith selected a suit of from his armoury. He opted against carrying a weapon; physically he was probably capable of taking out most of the college single handedly, and the plasma cannon in his left hand would suffice for any combat purposes. In any case, he did not plan on starting a fight. At least not today.

After about two hours of searching the college’s various buildings, he eventually came to an oak door with “Lyra Belacqua” printed on it. Iorek had said something about this being her real name. His eyes’ infrared scanners revealed that the room was empty. Regardless, he entered. To reason the room was empty soon became apparent.

Dropping his stealth system, he scanned the room. It showed all the hallmarks of a violent struggle- a grey wooden table had been overturned, books were strewn across the floor and a chair had been broken. Broken glass littered the ground, coated with dust. A piece of paper had been stuck to the window.
“Burns?” He said over the comlink. “I think we may have a problem.”
"What?"
“Someone’s been here. Looks like we missed the party.”
“Any clues as to what happened?”
“Read this: ‘Be it known that Lyra Belacqua, daughter of Marisa Coulter and Lord Asriel, is hereby arrested multiple cases of heresy, treason and conspiracy to weaken the power of the Magisterium. An assault on the agents of God is an assault on God himself. The heretic is sentenced to public intercision on the 25th May, 2000, tower hill. Long Live the Lord.’”
“Think that confirms what Iorek told us.”
“What’s intercision? Is it this place’s name for execution?”
“I’ll ask Iorek.”
The reply arrived five minutes later. “No, it’s not. Execution has the same word in this word too. Intercision’s something totally different entirely. He thinks it means cutting a person’s daemon away.”
“How do you do that? Didn’t Iorek say that they weren’t connected to you?”
“Not physically. But if you break the energy link- it would be like having a rail gun fired at your balls.”
“Ouch.”
“Indeed. And there’s also the smaller matter of you being turned into a zombie.”
“I think we’d better do something. I’m heading back up north.”
He heard the sound of a rifle clicking behind him. A harsh voice rang out. “Don’t move. Don’t turn around.”

Still to be continued...

EDIT: And part 3:

Atlantic Ocean, transit to North Pole

General Standish stood at the window of his cruiser, looking out over the endless blue ocean. The water reflected the sunlight from the cloudless sky, sparkling and shining as though it were made of sapphire. Two unmanned scout ships glided alongside his ship like dolphins. He turned away from the window towards the holoprojector in the centre of the room. The face of Commander Burns appeared in the air. Standish felt relieved that he was at last able to contact someone; ever since the landing, he had never been quite sure whether or not his ship was the only one that had made it. It was comforting to know that wasn’t the case.
“Good morning, Standish”, he said.
“Good morning, Burns. What’s been going on?”
“Rather a lot. We’ve been doing further research into the physics of this world. It keeps getting stranger and stranger. We found a talking bear up here in the north.”
“Sounds like you’ve been busy. Where’s Smith?”
“Somewhere in London. We’ve been following up a lead that may help us understand this world better. He was looking for this girl who apparently knew something about it.”
“Any luck?”
“Not exactly. She’s not where we thought she would be. Anyway, he sent me a message. He wants all available forces to relocate towards London- it exists in this world too. Didn’t say why. It seemed important though.”
“What do we do when we get there?”
“Try not to attract any attention. That’s what he said. But be ready to engage in combat at short notice.”
“All right then.”
Standish used his neural implants to feed the new coordinates directly into the ship. He felt the floor turn slightly as they arced towards their new destination.

Jordan College

“What’s your name?” asked one of the soliders.
Smith’s mind selected a false name automatically, saving him the trouble of thinking one up. “Robert Nightingale.”
“Robert Nightingale, I am placing you under arrest for conspiring against the Magisterium, plotting to assist heretics and attempting to subvert the authority of God.”
“Really? Perhaps you could explain the evidence on which you base that charge?”
“We were tipped off that you might come here.”
“Nice try. You weren’t were you- there’s now way you could have seen my ship. No- you’re looking for this, aren’t you?”
The alethiometer felt absurdly small and fragile in his hands. The sunlight glinted on its surface, like a tiny star. The soldier’s eyes turned towards it. “Put that device on the ground slowly, then step back up against the wall.”
“With pleasure.”
Before the soldier could reply, Smith hurled his fist into his chin, sending him flying back across the room. He collapsed against the stone wall. Smith raised his internal plasma cannon, pointed it at the soldiers’ chest and released its payload.

Another soldier rushed down the corridor, brandishing his rifle. A shot rang out, passing Smith and flying down the corridor. Raising his stealth field, Smith turned back into Lyra’s room and jumped out the window. His internal anti-gravity pack slowed his descent, bringing him to a soft landing on the grass. More shots came out from the window, tearing up the grass. One of them impacted with his armour, sending him tumbling to the ground. Realising the shot had taken out his stealth generator, he instinctively rolled into the bushes. He opened his plasma cannon, firing wildly into the crowd of soldiers. A zeppelin hung in the air, its machine gun rattling and coughing. The bullets ripped through the vegetation, reducing it to a pile of twisted branches. Smith rammed into the nearest door, ripping it from its hinges. Two scholars on the other side screamed as he pushed them out of the way, charging down the corridor with only the dimmest idea of what to do next. The confused cries of the soldiers echoed behind him.
He opened his internal comlink and ran the emergency program. It automatically seeked out the nearest responsive unit and opened the link. “This is General Standish” came a voice.
“Standish! I’m in trouble. Move in on this transmission. And make it quick, if that’s all right with you.”
Another rifle bullet entered the room, shattering a stained glass window. It fell to the ground like a cloud of crystalline dust. Smith raced through the door into a massive dining hall. He leapt onto one of the tables and activated his gravity pack, hurtling towards the door.

He crashed through the door, tumbling back into the gardens. The zeppelin noticed him in seconds, its machine gun coughing back to life. But before it could hit him, a flash of light came down from the sky, tearing the gondola from its body. It came crashing down, molten metal clinging to it like wax. All around it, smaller beams pierced the soldiers with unnerving accuracy. They dropped to the ground like twisted flies, the beams of death raining down on them. Smith looked up in confusion. What was going on? Standish was at least two minutes away. Who was helping him? Then he realised.

The Whispering Death’s stealth field peeled away like, almost like a puddle drying up to reveal the carbon-black starship. It raced towards the ground, its guns still blazing. Two combat drones shot out from its doors, firing at the last remaining soldiers. Smith dashed past them and into the airlock. The drones returned to the ship as it turned away from the ground, its fusion engines lifting it towards the sky. Similar black cruisers loomed in the distance like a flock of crows.
Standish’s voice came in over the comlink “How are you, sir?”
“I’m all right. Set a course for the north. I’m calling an emergency meeting. I think our problem just got a whole lot worse.”